


The Mourning Angel's Tears

by BatteriezNotIncluded



Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Forgiveness, Pirates of the Caribbean References, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2015-04-27
Packaged: 2018-03-13 08:28:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3374678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BatteriezNotIncluded/pseuds/BatteriezNotIncluded
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anna was tired of being shut out, ignored, and being considered the spare. So when she meets Gawain, she is given a chance to have adventures she couldn't have otherwise. But when the crew accept a ransom mission that seems to good to be true, they quickly learn that they were not told everything... (This is my first multi-chapter fanfic, so please review and send Kudos)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, BatteriezNotIncluded here! This is my first multi-chapter Fanfic ever, so please go easy on me. Hope you enjoy, if you have constructive criticism, feel free to leave a comment, but please don’t flame or spam me >:-) 
> 
> Enjoy!

Prologue:

 

            The door was still closed. Anna had tried virtually everything to get it to open, but it remained stubbornly shut, with her beloved sister telling her to go away. Not that she was getting discouraged, if anything she saw it as a game, a challenge; find the right thing to open the door. So far, chocolate, begging, yelling, and even riding her bike into the door hadn’t worked, and she had only succeeded in getting a scolding from her parents, and a concussion. But that didn’t mean she was any closer to giving up. Oh no, she was going to get that door open if it was the last thing she ever did. Well, okay not the _last_ thing, the last thing would probably the snowman the built together after the door opened.

 

            Currently, Anna was recovering from a particularly harsh scolding, after an attempt to get the door open involving a suit of armor, bed sheets, cooking oil, and one of the smaller rose bushes from the palace garden. Her ears were still ringing from the yelling, she had received. Of course none of this would have happened if the door had just opened, but it had resulted her getting grounded, which was why the seven year old princess was currently laying on her bed, bored out of her skull.

 

            It was the middle of the night, and nearly everyone in the palace was fast asleep. Anna’s stomach rumbled and she decided to sneak into the kitchens to get something to eat. Slowly, she grabbed her bag, snuck out the door, and made her way into the kitchens. She was about half way there when she heard footsteps. Quickly, Anna quietly ducked into the nearest room and shut the door. She slowly backed away from the door and waited for the steps to fade away, and slowly looked around the room.

 

            It was a guest room, with a bed, vanity, nightstand with a candle, and other normal things. What _wasn’t_ normal was the large portrait on one of the walls. Anna slowly approached it, her curiosity overruling her hunger. The portrait was of one of the first kings of Arendelle, the painting was surrounded by a large golden frame; the whole thing was just a large as the door. Slowly, Anna touched the painting, and began to feel around the frame. Suddenly she felt a small latch on the underside of the frame. Exited at her discovery, Anna grabbed the chair from the vanity and began to feel around the rest of the edges, and soon found another latch. Carefully, Anna unlatched the painting and it began to swing forward… there was suddenly a loud creak, and Anna quickly shut the painting again. Footsteps suddenly began approaching and Anna quickly hid the first place she could find; under the bed. The footsteps suddenly stopped in front of the door and Anna covered her mouth to keep from getting caught. Slowly the footsteps faded away again and Anna dared to breathe.

 

            Anna carefully got out from under the bed and opened her bag, secretly thankful that she had not emptied it since her attempt to get past _the door_. She quickly opened her bag and began to empty it out; lock picks… small dagger (taken from one of the suits of armor)… hairbrush… a book about Joan of Arc… matches… and… aha! Anna grinned triumphantly as she pulled out the small bottle of cooking oil leftover from her latest break-in attempt. Stuffing everything back into her bag, she quickly went over to the door and oiled the hinges, before carefully reopening the portrait-door. On the other side was…a door. She oiled these hinges as well before trying to open it… locked. Anna quickly went through her bag again and got out her makeshift lock picks. She quickly began to pick the lock on the door, her tongue jutting out slightly as she concentrated. Anna had made the lock-picks herself after reading a locksmithing book in the library when she was bored, and had used her first pair to try to open _the door_. Needless to say it didn’t work and the picks had been confiscated, but not before she had managed to make a few backups.

 

            The lock on the door clicked and the door soundlessly swung outward, revealing a small, dark staircase. Anna broke into an earsplitting grin. She had known that the Arendelle palace was bound to have secret passages; she had already found three of them on one of her exploring moods. Barely able to contain her excitement, she grabbed the candle off the nightstand and lit it with her matches, carefully closed the portrait/door behind her, and went down the stairs.

 

            One spiral staircase downward, long winding damp hallway, and straight staircase upward later, Anna stopped, having very nearly hit her head on what appeared to be a cellar door. Slowly she opened it and gasped. From where she was, Anna was in some kind of forest, from where she was she could see the mountains, the fjord and… _wait what?_ Anna wondered frowning, because she was looking at a particular mountain but seeing it at the wrong angle. She had not seen it from this angle before, but she had seen it from the castle windows. She slowly turned her head and let out a yelp, because she was staring at a castle; Arendelle castle… from _outside_ its massive gates. Anna’s mind went blank, as a slow brilliant smile spread across her face. She was _out_ , she was free! _Oooohhhh_! She realized suddenly, _that’s why that tunnel was so damp, it must have been under the fjord_. Looking around, she spotted Arendelle, and she grinned even wider. She carefully took out her dagger and marked the tree next to the hidden door in the ground and carefully closed it, before going toward Arendelle, marking trees as she went.

 

* * *

            Gawain smiled to himself as he brought his hammer down on the strip of hot metal. He was anxious to finish his newest project. Losing himself in his work his mind drifted to his dream. He knew that it would be a long time before he could live his dream, and new that it would only get harder when he started, but his thirst for adventure and freedom was just as powerful if not more so than his hesitation. He dunked the strip of metal, which would be a barrel ring into the water with a hiss. He nearly dropped it into the barrel and realized that it was probably past time to go home and get some sleep. Judging by the moon, it was about one in the morning. He shook his head and carefully closed the blacksmith forge.

 

            Old Man Jackson as he was called had taken in Gawain when he had been nine and offered him a position as his apprentice. Gawain needing money to start his adventure had accepted. It had been hard work, especially to gain respect from the best armor, sword, and blacksmith in Arendelle. But he had eventually done it and was allowed to work the forge without Old Man Jackson’s constant watchful eye, which had taken two years of hard work and showing he could forge just as good as Jackson himself. Gawain, closed and locked the door, carefully taking his sword (which he had made himself), and carefully went “home”. He was crossing the street toward the old building when he heard shouting. He stopped and frowned. _Who in their right mind is out at this time of night,_ Gawain thought to himself. He shook his head and started again, before he heard another voice, a girl’s voice. Gawain grinned to himself, _a damsel in distress! I’ll take it,_ and carefully drew his sword. As he continued, he saw another shadow; it was his friend, Kaleb. Actually Kaleb was more like a brother to a Gawain. Kay grinned at Gawain and pulled out his large makeshift polearm.

 

            Gawain and Kaleb silently hid behind some barrels and looked around. Two large drunks had cornered a girl, who was holding a dagger of some sort. She was wearing a casual dress, though much better quality than anyone else in the city, and from the torch light from one of the men he could see she had dark strawberry blond hair, with a strange white streak in it. Her blue eyes were strangely fierce, like a cornered animal and she was angrily talking to the men.

 

            “You had better walk away, or I’ll make both of you regret it” she said her voice strangely calm but with a soft growl, “and I mean really regret it! Not like regretting eating a bad piece of fruit regret, but the bad kind of regret like ‘I really shouldn’t have messed with that kid the other day’ and-“

 

            The girl’s voice trailed off as the men laughed and raised their fists. Gawain met Kay’s eyes and gave a nod and together they charged. Gawain went for the one without the torch, swinging his sword low, hitting the guy in the knee. He howled in pain and swung his fist. Gawain ducked and swung again aiming for the guy’s arm, and sliced his elbow open. The man stumbled back and Gawain repositioned his sword to strike. Suddenly the guy Kaleb was fighting backed up and nearly crashed into Gawain, forcing him to jump out of the way. Kaleb swung his Polearm and smashed it against the man’s groin, causing a high pitch squeal to explode from the man’s mouth. The man who Gawain had been fighting suddenly grabbed the dropped torch and swung it at Gawain, he tried to dodge but couldn’t get out of the way until a flash of red came out of nowhere and stabbed the man in the arm with a dagger. The man howled and dropped the torch, and Kaleb quickly hit their heads with his Polearm, knocking them unconscious.

 

            Gawain eyed the girl, “Nice shot,” he commented, sheathing his sword. The girl grinned

 

            “Thanks, not bad yourself,” she said, “no really thank you both, I probably would have been in real trouble if you two hadn’t come along and helped me, well actually you more like saved me and I helped you but-“

 

            Gawain grinned and held up his hand, “no problem, though I have to ask, what were you thinking wandering the streets at a time like this? It’s one in the morning!”

 

            The girl shuffled her feet and mumbled something. Kaleb grunted and thrust the butt of his makeshift polearm in the ground, causing the girl to jump.

 “My friend asked you a question, are you going to answer or not?” he towered over the girl menacingly.

 

 

            “Calm down Kaleb,” said Gawain shaking his head, then he turned to the girl, “sorry about him, he’s like that to everyone. I’m Gawain, and this is Kaleb, and seriously, why are you out here?”

 

            The girl looked at them and then smiled shyly “I’m Anna, and I’m exploring the town. I know it’s bad to explore at night but it’s the only time I can do it without my parents finding out ‘cause I’m technically not supposed to leave home, and I’ve always wanted to see everything and I was really bored and I found a way out and…” the girl trailed off, and shuffled her feet when Kaleb and Gawain looked at each other.

 

            “What,” scoffed Kaleb, “are you under house arrest or something?”

 

            Anna shuffled her feet “yeah” she said finally, “you could say that.”

 

            Gawain felt a small amount of pity for the girl, and he had to admit she was pretty cute for a damsel in distress. He thought about what to do, and then he turned to Kay and whispered so the girl couldn’t hear them.

 

            “I think she might make a good member,” Gawain whispered to Kaleb, “She didn’t back down against those guy’s and it sounds like she has a reason to join up.”

 

            Kaleb frowned and then shrugged, “you’re the Captain, so in the end it’s your choice.”

 

            “I think we should take her to the base,” Gawain told him carefully. Kaleb arched an eyebrow, but slowly nodded.

 

            “Come with us,” Gawain said, turning out of the alley, “It looks like you need a place to stay, and I think your story is a good one, so how about we take you to our safe house, and you tell us your story and we’ll tell you ours.”

 

            Anna thought for a moment and then grinned, “Okay then, deal. Lead the way.”

* * *

            Anna was exited, to say the least. She had met two townspeople, who looked like they knew their way around, and had offered her a place to stay. She knew that she wouldn’t have lessons for a few days, and her parents wouldn’t really look for her due to meetings, and the servants would only look for her if something went missing, because she was supposed to be grounded.

 

            The two boys who had found her were taking her through a series of side streets. The place they had spoke of, their safe house, sounded exiting, almost as if she were in one of the adventure stories she had read in the castle library. As they turned a corner, Anna took a closer look at her new friends. The one named Gawain, who looked about fifteen, was tall and muscular, and war a leather jerkin and pants, with thick boots, he had shoulder length black hair, and brown eyes. His skin was tanned slightly and he had several scars on his arms.

 

            The other boy could hardly be called a boy at all. He was the biggest guy Anna had ever seen, even bigger than the palace guards. He was brawny and incredibly tall, nearly six foot if Anna had to guess, and carried his staff-thing (she thought it looked like a polearm) with ease, although it looked just as heavy as a jousting lance. He wore a cotton shirt and, pants that looked like they had been cut and sown back together to make room for his growth. He had black eyes, and incredibly short black hair. His skin though, was very strange, at least to Anna, for it was the color of chocolate. Anna had never before seen someone with that color skin before, at least in Arendelle.

 

            Finally Gawain and Kaleb stopped at a rundown looking building. Gawain knocked on the door rhythmically (like a secret knock Anna thought with excitement), and the door opened to reveal a scrawny brown haired boy, who looked like he hadn’t eaten in a few days.

 

            “Hi Gawain, hi Kaleb” he said looking stoically, then he turned to Anna, “who’s she?”

 

            “Chatterbox, this is Anna. Anna this is Chatterbox” Said Gawain, grinning as the three of them entered the “safe house”.

 

            Anna grinned some more and sat down in a chair around a three legged table, along with the rest of the boys. Gawain let out a whistle and two other boys came out. Both boys had blond hair and looked as though they were twins. Gawain gestured to the table and the boys sat down next to each other.

 

            “This is Pike and Smoke” Gawain told her, “Pike is the one on the left.”

 

            Kaleb shifted and looked at Anna, “you tell your story and we’ll tell ours. Okay?”

 

            Anna thought about it, _well, they did save me and offer me a place to stay. I guess I kind of owe them an explanation, but I won’t tell them I’m a princess._

 

            Anna cleared her throat and began. She told the boys how she was the daughter of a lord, and how Elsa shut her out and how Anna had been trying to get her to come out. She told them how the tutors told her she was terrible at everything and she needed to stop having her head in the clouds and to grow up. She also told them how Mama and Papa were always busy, and never told her why Elsa hated her, or shut her out, but how they were kind nonetheless, just very, very busy.

 

            “So I just found a way out while trying to get a snack and ran into some mean men, who Gawain and Kaleb saved me from and here I am.” Anna finished, and sighed.

 

            The boys were quiet before one of them spoke up… Smoke was it? “We have it bad too, although in a different way. Captain, or Gawain as you know him, looks out for us. We’re one big family here.” Suddenly the other boy, Pike’s face lit up.

 

            “How about you join our crew!” He said excitedly, “We could use another member, once Gawain makes enough money for the ship and-“

 

            “PIKE!” all of the boys shouted at once glaring at him, and Pike quickly shut up.

 

            “What ship?” asked Anna excitedly, looking around at the boys.

 

            There was silence, then Gawain slowly spoke up.

            “Okay,” he said, “you told your story so now we’ll tell ours. I was born on a ship, and was a cabin boy all my life. I learned everything I could about ships, how to steer, about the different knots and mast types, and even sail material. I decided early on that I wanted to be a pi… privateer. On one of my voyages, I met Kaleb. He was on a slave ship I was on, on course for the Southern Isles when our when the ship docked here in Arendelle. I had had to go down into the brig often and he and I often spoke. When we arrived here to get supplies, I stole the keys to his cell and snuck him out, the night before we were scheduled to leave for the southern isles.

 

            “We were on the streets for a while, until the smithy, Old Man Jackson offered me a job his shop. I’ve been trying to get enough money for a ship of my own for a while now. We met Chatterbox at the market. His name is a bit of a joke actually, he doesn’t speak unless he has something really important to say. But he was on the streets to, and knew how to handle himself. Plus he doesn’t get seasick. Then later on, we met up with Pike and Smoke, they were farmers but their father kicked them out because they didn’t want to get married, which was really stupid considered they were eleven at the time, and that was about a year ago. We all agreed to become crewmates once we get our ship. It seems Pike here thinks you’d make a good one and we take that kind of thing seriously considering that crewmembers are like family, especially on a ship.”

 

            Anna thought hard about it, _I learned from Papa that ‘privateer’ is just a fancy way of saying pirate. But all the stories I’ve read has pirates having a lot of adventures and I’ve been trapped in the castle for a long time. It would be nice to be able to see the world, and have all the adventures I want, and they said crewmates are like family, and it would be nice not to be shut out anymore. But at the same time I can’t leave Elsa, momma, and papa, and they would be disappointed if I left the castle to become a pirate. Plus I don’t know these guys well enough. They did say that they didn’t have enough money for a ship yet, so I should have plenty of time to get to know them, and it would be nice to have friends who weren’t servants and thought I was just a spare._

 

            “I don’t know how to fight, or anything about ships and being a crewmember, but I’m willing to learn.” Anna said with a determined gaze. “I’ll do it, but I need to be able to go back home, so I’ll only be able to visit at night. So the servants or my parents know about me leaving home. But, being a _pirate_ sure sounds better than being a Lady.”

 

            Some of the boys shifted uncomfortably, but Gawain smiled, “Good, you know what you’re getting into. You’ll need to swear an oath first though.”

 

            Anna nodded, and repeated after Gawain; “ _I pledge myself, to the captain, the crew and the ship that will be my home. I swear to protect those on board and to never betray the loyalty of the crew. I promise to treat the ship and its crew as my family and treat them with respect and share all loot gained equally. I swear to obey my Captain and serve the ship faithfully from now on and forevermore_.”

 

Gawain smiled as, the rest of the boys cheered, and said “welcome to the family, Anna.”

 

* * *

 

            The next year passed both quickly and slowly for Anna. Gawain and the others taught her how to fight with swords, and her dagger properly. As the time passed she learned that although the gang had their quirks, they all were loyal and trustworthy. Several times she spoke to them about problems with her lessons (telling them it was part of her ‘how to be a lady’ training), and they even offered her advice on how to get past _the door_. Eventually, she and Gawain became close friends, and the others began to see her as a second-in-command of sorts. At first Kaleb was a little upset about this, but he eventually warmed up to her after she offered to teach him to read.

 

            Gawain and the crew were in the safe house, one day, called there for an important meeting.

 

            “If we’re going to be pirates we need to do this properly, and that means we need a flag. I know a lot of pirates have weird symbols like skulls and swords, but I’m hoping that our flag is going to be a little more… unique. I want all of us to think of what we hate or fear most and we’ll put it on the flag. I’ll go first; I hate being chained down in one place and not be able to do what I want with my life.”

 

            Anna took a deep breath and said, “I hate the fact that everyone in my family is shutting me out. So I guess… doors?”

 

            They continued around, until Pike, who was the best artist, came up with some designs. The first few were terrible and everyone hated them. But the fifth design all of them agreed on. The flag was Black (of course) with a white door, with a red snowflake on it (Pike was afraid of freezing to death), and with a skeleton chained in front of it (both Gawain and Kaleb contributed to this design, as Kaleb didn’t want to be a slave again). The skeleton was kneeling in front of the door, it’s back arched and its hands up, scratching at the door as if trying to get in or out (Smoke was afraid of being abandoned again). The design was given to Anna, who had sewing among her other lessons back at the palace.

 

* * *

 

             More time passed, and Anna eventually began trying to sneak out during the daytime to see the crew. Gawain made money at the smithy, and even made Anna her own sword, as well as proper weapons for the others. Eventually they were met with another crewmember dubbed Smarts, Smarts had been a bastard son of a smaller noble in the kingdom of Corona, and knew virtually everything there was to know about maps, navigation, and flags. Smarts had fairly wiry figure with dirty blond hair and blue eyes, and when he concentrated on things really hard, he didn’t notice anything going on around him (Pike, Smoke and Anna often played pranks on him when he did this). When they were bored, one day, they chose ranks for themselves, and Anna drafted out a pirates code for the ship. One day while bored they had played a game of guess the truth, where one had to guess the truth out of the three total statements was. It was during one of these games while alone with Gawain, that she told him the truth about her being the princess. He had asked if she could gain the money to buy their ship, but she had declined saying it would be too hard to do it without her parents finding out.

 

            On one of these boring days, Anna and the others were talking about Elsa, and ideas for how to either get her out of her room, or get past _the door_. They had been discussing this for quite some time when suddenly Chatterbox spoke up.

 

            “Every time you, knock on the door, she tells you to ‘go away’ right? Does she use those exact words? Do your parents say this as well? How long have they been doing this?”

 

            Anna frowned, “yeah, Elsa uses those exact words, momma and papa don’t though, they just say their busy, and they’ve been doing this since oh… since I was five so… five years. Why do you ask?”

 

            Chatterbox frowned, “I may have this wrong, but have you ever thought that by ‘go away’ she meant, ‘get out’ as in run away? Don’t misunderstand me, but it sounds like they really don’t want you around at all. I know you love your family, but even Smart’s parents were able to make time for him, and your sister and your parents sound like they don’t want to. No offence.”

 

            Anna stared at Chatterbox horrified, it had crossed her mind that she might be unwanted in the palace, but she had usually had pushed the thought away almost immediately after she thought such things. _Yeah, my parents are always busy, and yes Elsa’s always telling me go away faster than she used to but… could it really mean I’m unwanted_. Normally she would think someone who said something like that was crazy _, but Chatterbox has always been very smart for his age, and even though he doesn’t say much, what he does say is right, or the best opinion, depending on the situation._ Chatterbox looked at her sympathetically.

 

            “If you need to know for certain you can always test your parents, you said they always avoid talking about why your sister shut herself away. However, don’t drop the subject, press on and fight back, _make them_ tell you. You don’t have to do it today or even tomorrow, but if ever feel like you need to find out… you have a right to know Anna, you are a member of their family, and _real_ families don’t keep each other in the dark, especially about something as important as this.”

 

            Anna thought for a moment and then nodded. _Chatterbox is right_ , she decided. _If they really love me, they’ll tell me, because family helps each other out_. For some reason, however, Anna couldn’t shake a feeling of foreboding, at what was about to come.

* * *

            Anna had returned to the castle very early a few days after her eleventh birthday, and had been once again pondering what Chatterbox had said about her family. Elsa had now refused to even acknowledge her whenever she knocked at the door, and simply waited for Anna to give up. Anna was not one to give up easily, but even she was beginning to feel defeat as each one of her knocks went unanswered. Anna had, for a while talked to Elsa about her days and her lessons, though she left out her escapades into the town. A few times she could have sworn she heard giggles, and one time she was certain she had heard Elsa suppress a snort of laughter. But vocal signs of her sister listening became less and less as time went on until she was faced with the crushing silence as usual.

 

            Anna was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts by a knock on her bedroom door.

 

            “Princess Anna,” it was Kai. “Your parents would like to speak to you in the library.”

 

            Anna blinked. _This is a first,_ she thought, as she followed Kai out of her room and into the library. _Momma and papa never ask to talk to me._ Suddenly a thought struck her like lightning, _what if they’re finally going to tell me why Elsa won’t talk to me! I must have shown them that I’m responsible enough to know, since I’m great at taking care of Pharis. Even the stable boy says I am really responsible when it comes to taking care of my horse._ A small smile graced her lips as she approached her parents. However it quickly vanished when she saw the looks on their faces. Both her mother and father looked sternly at her, almost as if she was in trouble, which she couldn’t be because she hadn’t done anything wrong… _unless they found out I know about the passage!_ Anna was now a little worried.

 

            “So,” she started, trying to sound lighthearted, “you guy’s wanted to see me?”

 

            Her parents exchanged looks. “We have spoken to your tutors, and are very disappointed in you Anna.” Her father began, “as princess of Arendelle, you have a duty to this kingdom, and that means you have to take your studies seriously. You have done nothing but fail several of your tests, and have skipped several of your lessons.”

 

            Anna couldn’t believe her ears, “but you two have been pushing me take lessons all the time, I don’t have any free time anymore and the time I do have I’m stuck doing homework or hanging out with…Joan.”

 

            “Joan?” her mother asked raising an eyebrow.

 

            “Yeah,” said Anna, trying to cover up that she nearly had revealed her escapes, “the portrait of Joan of Arc in the portrait room. Considering you two are always busy and Elsa won’t talk to me, there isn’t really anyone else to hang out with-”

 

            “You talk to paintings?” her father said incredulously, “Anna, you are to stop immediately, such behavior is not fitting for a princess. And you are to now spend your free time under supervision to make sure you are behaving accordingly when not in your room.”

 

            Anna was horrified. If she was under constant watch she wouldn’t be able to visit Arendelle anymore. She would be truly trapped in the palace, and without the freedom that she had slowly become accustom to she was certain she would go crazy.

 

            “No!” She cried before she could stop herself, “I am a part of this family, I deserve to have time to myself without being treated like a prisoner, and this is my home! I don’t know what I or Elsa did to be stuck in her room, but _I cannot_ live like that!”

 

            King Adgar’s frown deepened, “your sister is not under house arrest! Elsa is dealing with problems that she must solve on her own-”

 

            Queen Idun suddenly hissed at him, but Anna hardly noticed, her temper was now flaring more than it had in a long time. Suddenly years of being shut out suddenly became too much, and with a new threat of being shut in as well as out, Anna snapped.

 

            “What is wrong with Elsa? There is nothing wrong with my sister! If she is having a problem than as we should be helping her, _I_ should be helping her! And if she isn’t under house arrest than why is she always in her room? Why won’t she come out, why won’t she at least talk to me even through the door? Why won’t-”

 

            “That is none of your concern!” Her father began sharply, but Anna cut him off.

 

            “NONE OF MY CONCERN?! I’m her _sister;_ of course it’s my concern! If Elsa needs help we should _all_ be willing to give it, we’re _all_ part of her family, and family shouldn’t keep secrets from each other!” Anna was shouting now, her mother, who had been sitting down was now on her feet. Both of her parents looked murderous, but Anna didn’t care.

 

            “I have tried so hard to be what you want, but never have you given me what I want; I want Elsa! I want to see my sister, I want her to be able to leave her room, and not be alone, because _no one_ wants to be alone! I don’t care how bad this ‘problem’ is, I want to help, I _need_ to help! And do try to focus on my lessons, but I can’t because aside from being boring, I am constantly worried about _my_ _sister_! I am a part of this family right? Then tell me what is happening, tell me how I can help her, tell me the _truth_! Don’t shut me out anymore!”

 

            “NO!” her parents shouted together, and the queen stared at Anna, she almost looked scared, but she mostly looked furious.

 

            “Do not talk back to your father,” She began angrily, “you are the princess of Arendelle and a princess never raises her voice, especially to her father! And as for your sister, you _cannot_ know, what is happening with Elsa! That is _none_ of your concern even if you are her sister! If you truly are a part of this family you would not address us so!”

 

            King Adgar’s voice was now steel “If you truly want to be a part of this family you have to show us that you do! Start by focusing on your lessons, and not concerning yourself with matters out of your control, such as Elsa!”

 

            “What?!” Anna cried, “Elsa is my _sister_ and that _makes it_ my concern! And I do focus on my lessons, at least I try to, but even after I ask the tutors I don’t get it! Don’t you see? I’m trying, but I need more time! I will get it, I will be good enough, I am more than just the spare! Let me prove it, let me help with Elsa! Give me a chance! I can-”

 

            “No! We have already made up our minds on the matter! You _will not_ approach Elsa! And if you truly are not doing well at your best, as you seem to think, than perhaps your best is not good enough! You have to try harder, and stop complaining about your sister, end of discussion!”

 

            Anna stared at her father, matching his gaze and didn’t flinch, she remembered what her friend had told her and now she knew; she needed to know, was she wanted? She took a deep breath and spoke.

 

            “No.” Her voice was almost a deadly quiet, “NOT end of discussion. I will help my sister, as her sister it is my job and-”

 

            “Get out.”

 

            Anna’s words died in her throat. Her mind suddenly blank, she barely was able to keep enough train of thought to start “But-”

 

            “ANNA!” Her father roared, “ _GET OUT_!”

 

            Anna’s mind reeled; she barely registered charging out the door of the library. _No, it can’t be, but he just said… he’s throwing me out! I really am just the spare to them; he didn’t even deny it when I brought it up! I can’t be unwanted, I just can’t!_ There was only one thing left to do, one way to be certain if this terrible truth was real. She shot up the stairs and banged on _the door_.

 

            “Elsa, please!” Anna practically sobbed, “Help me! Don’t let mama and papa do this to me! I’m your sister! Please Elsa; just this once let me in!”

 

            Anna reached for the doorknob and began turned it, and began to push the door open, before her sister’s shrill yell penetrated her mind:

 

            “Get out Anna! GET OUT!”

 

            She heard footsteps, she saw guards, and without another thought, Anna ran. Down the hall, up the next flight of stairs and through a false wall, that she had discovered a few years ago. Anna’s mind was still reeling, but slowly the truth of her situation. She was unwanted, the guards chasing her were there to throw her out of the palace, because she wasn’t good enough, because she was just the spare, and the spare was no longer needed… or wanted, by anyone. Anna felt tears begin to escape her eyes, but she quickly tried to hold them in. She now knew what she had to do.

 

            When the footsteps faded she followed the passage to one of the storage rooms. Quickly, she grabbed a nearby bag and began rifling through the shelves and drawers looking for anything of value. Gold, gems, old heirlooms, were quickly put in the bag, before she snuck, out of the room and after several close calls, made it to the secret tunnel that led to the treasury room and began to fill the rest of the bag with gold. When it was filled, she snuck back to her room, and grabbed her bag, sword, and the Flag that she had secretly made for their ship, before sneaking to the portrait/tunnel, and running to the safe house.

 

            When she finally arrived was when she lost the battle to control her tears. As Gawain, Kaleb, Smoke, Pike, and Smarts held and comforted her she eventually got enough control to say that she had been as good as banished. She handed the bag filled with treasure to Gawain, and looked at him.

 

            “I hope that is enough for a ship” said Anna through sobs, “because I want to leave and never come back here.”

 

            Gawain looked in the bag and nearly dropped it. He nodded numbly, and left, barely choking out that he was going to a place to sell the treasure without having too many questions asked, before practically sprinting out the door. The boys looked at one another, and silently they began to pack their things, while one of them stayed to comfort Anna. It was early morning the next day when Gawain came back, and the crew left together for the Harbor, with Anna wearing a cloak and hood to conceal her face. Though it took much haggling, yelling, and even some threatening, the crew walked down the harbor at their new ship. It was well worn, with too many barnacles on the hull. The two masts were well worn and the sails had definitely seen better days. But at that moment none of them cared. Gawain and his crew got on the ship and he handed a bag of new maps to Smarts telling him where they needed to go, and they immediately set off on their new adventure.

* * *

 

             Elsa was sitting on her bed, silently cursing herself, and worried out of her mind. Never had Anna sounded so… desperate, so _terrified_. Elsa had know the moment her sister had started talking that something was terribly wrong, she knew she had heard yelling down stairs, though it was far enough away that Elsa hadn’t know what anyone was saying but from the sound of it, _whatever_ it was had been incredibly serious. She had recognized her parents and Anna’s voices, but it didn’t make since because Anna never argued, much less shouted at anyone. Needless to say, Elsa was worried, as if it wasn’t made obvious by the ice which had since made its way halfway up the walls of her room.

 

            When Anna had first banged on her door, Elsa had been reading at her desk. When her sister had slammed her fist on her door, she had been so surprised that she accidently froze most of her floor. Then Anna had started talking… no _begging_ Elsa to let her in, with a desperation she had never heard from her sister before. It had sounded as if her life had depended on it. Elsa had been frozen there trying desperately to think of something to say, until Anna tried to open the door. Elsa had panicked, with half her room frozen; she had lashed out without thinking, yelling those unforgivable words. Then she had heard her sister run away, but… it had also sounded like she had been followed by several others. For a moment Elsa wondered if the castle was under attack, and slowly peeked out the door. No, they were palace guards, not enemy soldiers, and by the sound of it, they were after… Anna?

 

            Elsa’s mind continued to spin in circles, trying desperately to make sense of what had happened, what her sister and parents had been yelling about, why Anna had sounded so terrified when she banged on her door, and most puzzling (at least to Elsa) was why had her sister tried to _open_ her door? All through the years, Anna had never once tried to open it, by the doorknob at least. Usually Anna had simply done either crazy stunts, or simply talked to Elsa _through_ the door, but she had never once tried to actually _open_ it. That was what had Elsa worried now. Because Elsa knew that Anna _never_ would have done that unless something was _very_ wrong.

 

            Elsa did not get any answers to her questions. Even when she had asked Kai and Gerda, when she came out to breakfast. Or that one guard she had seen when her sister had made her mad dash from Elsa’s room. No one told her anything, for two days, then three, until it was the end of the week, and Elsa was equal parts annoyed and worried especially since Anna hadn’t once knocked on her door. Her parent’s hadn’t come to her room either, which wasn’t unusual, but when she had caught a glimpse of them on her way to the library one evening, both of her parents had looked almost frantic; arguing with each other in hushed whispers, and had stopped when they had spotted Elsa.

 

            After the second week passed, Elsa was fully prepared to confront both her parents, about whatever had happened. Everyone was refusing to tell her anything, and Elsa was actually beginning to consider knocking on _Anna’s_ door, when she was pulled out of her thoughts by a knock at her own.

 

            Elsa took a deep breath, and opened the door, revealing her parents standing in the hallway. Her father opened his mouth to speak, but Elsa beat him to it.

 

            “Where’s Anna? Why was half the palace guard running after her, and why won’t anyone tell me anything?” she demanded trying desperately to make her voice sound as though there was no room for excuses.

 

            Her father sighed, and slowly began to speak, “Anna is not in the palace anymore. Please let me finish.” He added hastily when Elsa opened her mouth to continue.

 

            “Anna has been sent out of the palace to a boarding school in another kingdom. She has been having trouble with her lessons and we thought it best to send her somewhere where she could learn where she wouldn’t have… distractions. She wasn’t very happy about it at first, from one of the guards, she tried to asking you to get her out of it, but when we finally found her, she agreed to leave. She left several hours ago for Corona, I’m afraid. She says that she sends her love though. She would have come herself but her ship left very early, and she didn’t want to wake you.”

 

            Elsa kept her face neutral, although she felt uncertain. _Didn’t want to wake me?_ Elsa wondered to herself. _That certainly hasn’t stopped her before. And why wouldn’t she tell me sooner? Or is she finally mad at me enough that she’s stopped trying to talk to me?_

 

            Her mother stepped forward, “I know you must feel sad that Anna didn’t tell you herself, but, she was upset with all of us when she left. Your isolation, though… necessary has taken its toll on her.”

 

            Elsa thought about this for a moment, and finally nodded, “Very well, I hope she enjoys herself in Corona, I hear it’s nice this time of year.”

 

            Her parents nodded and bid Elsa farewell. But even as the door closed, Elsa felt a nagging sensation in the back of her mind, telling her that she should not have dropped the subject.

 

 

            The king and queen slowly made their way back to their room. Both of them were exhausted from the strain the past two weeks. When the door had shut Idun slowly turned to her husband a troubled expression on her face.

 

            “Are you sure that not telling Elsa is a good idea? Anna is her sister; she deserves to know that she is missing, doesn’t she?”

 

            King Adgar sighed, “Elsa has enough to worry about right now, especially with her powers, getting more and more out of control. Something like this would only send her over the edge. Until Anna is found, Elsa cannot know that her sister is missing. If anyone asks she is at finishing school, or accompanying us on diplomatic missions when we are away. There can be no room for error. For Elsa’s sake, we cannot have her know about this, or she will lose whatever control she has gained.”

 

            The queen sighed and nodded, and the king turned to Kai, who had been standing in the corner, and gave a nod. The butler sighed and gave a nod in return. No one could know about the missing princess. Especially not her sister.


	2. The Unintended Contract

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BatteriezNotIncluded here, sorry for the delay but aside from trying to figure out the workings of the website, and actually writing said chapter it took a bit longer than I anticipated. I probably will take a long time to upload chapters; I don’t upload on a schedule, only when I get inspired so expect quality over quantity. 
> 
> Of course as usual; I do not own Frozen, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc. Please feel free to leave kudos, review, and leave constructive criticism, and please remember; this is my first multi-chapter fanfic so please no flames. Thanks!

Chapter 1

 

_Seven Years Later_

            The ship cut through the water at a seemingly breakneck pace. Stark white sails on each of its three masts were unfurled, the dark wood of the ship, almost black in the light, was trimmed with red and gold. Upon the prow of the ship where on other ships would be a carved woman, this ship instead held a bird; a phoenix. The ship’s name both carved and painted in gold was _The Mourning Angel_.

             The skies were impossibly clear, the water still choppy from the storm the night before. The men onboard _The Mourning Angel_ were hard at work, adjusting the rigging, and searching the horizon for their prey. The captain stood at the wheel, steering the ship, making the occasional adjustment to his course. Though it was a beautiful day for sailing, with the wind strong and at their backs, the captain had a scowl across his face.

             “They should have washed up here,” he muttered to himself, then yelled louder, “Hawkeye! Any sign of them?”

             The man in the crow’s nest peeked out, “No Captain! No sign of them yet!”

             The captain frowned; their target should have shown itself by now. Though it was a vessel of importance, the storm had separated it from its convoy, leaving it alone and helpless. Captain and crew continued to anxiously watch the horizon, scanning for any signs of the lost ship.

             Normally, the captain would not be looking for the ship, and simply be searching for merchant vessels to raid and such. However, the kingdoms had seen fit to raise security around several of their vessels, and had gotten good at hiding their routes, resulting in a very slow year for all of them. It was not a good thing, especially for possibly the most feared pirate on the seas. For the first time in… well, forever, he had needed to take a contract.

             Contracts on the whole weren’t bad per say, it was just most of them involved revenge, slave trade, and rarely had any nice treasure to loot. Contracts though had fair prices (most of the time) just didn’t have the exhilaration of simply pirating. There was also a secondary problem with contracts however; though the information on the target was given, not _all_ of the information was shared, and in this business, it could result in getting caught or worse. The Captain slowly thought back to the briefing of this particular contract. He had known it wasn’t going to be easy, but he wished he knew a little bit more.

* * *

             “Bless me Barnacles,” said the Contract keeper of Tortuga, “if it isn’t the Dreaded Pirate Roberts! What brings you here to the land of us simple folk?”

             The captain sighed, “a contract, what else, Crabber?”

             The contract keeper, Crabber, gave a toothless smile, and let out a wheezing chuckle.

             “Bad year for you too, eh mate? Royals may be fools, but the second their coffers are threatened they become smart. Shame eh?” Crabber sighed, “I have a contract; a simple grab and go. A lady of the kingdom of Arendelle is heading for the kingdom of Corona; someone wants to make sure she never gets there.”

             Roberts grunted, “We’re pirates, not assassins, Crabber. Since when did you start accepting those contracts?”

             Crabber glared, “You don’t kill her, the client has something else in mind. He wants her to be brought to Riggins Port, a few miles from Weselton.”

             A voice on Roberts right spoke up, “who’s the target?”

             Crabber eyed the speaker, “First Mate Kay, is it? I’ll tell you if you accept, got it?”

             Kay frowned and eyed Roberts. Roberts knew this look; Kay was suspicious, not that Roberts could blame him. This whole thing was suspicious, though to be fair, most pirate contracts were.

             “How much?” Asked Roberts, raising an eyebrow.

             Crabber’s grin widened, “this much.”

             Roberts nearly dropped the paper, and heard Kay give a gasp. The amount was ludicrous! It would be enough to sustain his crew for months and still have money left over. Roberts slowly took Kay to the side.

             “I’m not going to lie; we need this, but all this for one woman? Sounds too much like a Royal.” Roberts muttered to his quartermaster. Roberts had one rule on his ship; plunder and pillage all the merchants you like, but never touch a Royal. This rule so far had kept them alive; Royalty was much more likely to ignore you if you ignored them, they saw you as a nuisance with pillaging the merchant vessels, but otherwise didn’t take direct action, like sending the royal navy to bring your head on a pike.

           Kay gave a nod, “It does look pretty suspicious, and I can’t think of anyone in Arendelle who is worth _that_ much except… you’re right though, we need the money. I say we do it. We can ask Andrews when we get back to the ship.”

             Roberts nodded, “You’ve earned yourself a pirate, so who is this poor unfortunate dame?”

             “As I told you before, she’s from Arendelle. She’s the Lady Genova of house Tollak. She’s on a diplomatic mission trying to secure some sort of special trade item, not even our inside man could crack what it is. Anyway, your job is to make sure she doesn’t get there. Here’s the ship’s name and the colors it will be flying. Good luck mate, you’ll need it.”

            Roberts took the paper from Crabbers and returned to his ship beside Kay. The moment his feet touched the deck of _The Mourning Angel_ he gave a shout.

             “Quartermaster Andrews! Front and center in my cabin, now!”

             Roberts and Kay went directly to the captain’s quarters and began to take out several maps, and manifests. A moment later, there was a knock, and the quartermaster entered.

             “So, did you find anything interesting?” Andrews said with a slight smile.

             “We don’t know yet,” Kay replied, “we were hoping you could give us some info on our target, a lady from Arendelle. It’s a kidnapping job, though, so did if Wiz has anymore of those smoke bombs, we’ll need ‘em.”

             Andrews pouted, “Arendelle? Really? I really was hoping to avoid them.”

             “We know, Andrews, but it was the only job big enough for the whole crew. Speaking of which,” Roberts said, he handed the contract to Andrews, “what do you think?”

             Andrews read the contract over, “well it’s well written… no secret clauses we need to worry about… and the pay is—wait, WHAT?”

             Andrew nearly dropped the parchment, and Roberts could see the quartermaster rereading the payment again. Andrew’s mouth was hanging open slightly, and after a moment mouth dry said, “Is this a joke?”

             Kay shook his head, “Nope, no joke. The target is a Arendelle high lady by the sound of it. Name of Genova of house Tollak, know anythi--”

             Andrew suddenly cut him off, “Did you say house Tollak? That can’t be right; they were stripped of their titles after a pretty severe scandal. Not many people know about it though, the other nobles and p…” a pause, “the king made it a secret, so no one outside the council would know about it, it was _that_ bad. It doesn’t make since that there would be someone from that old noble family would be re granted their titles.”

            Both Roberts and Kay exchanged worried glances, “There is definitely something going on, that’s for sure…” the first mate began, “but we already agreed to do the job, so let’s get ready to sail.” 

* * *

            Roberts was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts by a sudden shout.

             “Ship! Two miles of the starboard side!” Hawkeye’s cry from the crow’s nest. “It bears the colors of the ship we’re after! Looks she’s the… _HMS Adgar_.”

             Roberts’s eyes glinted as he pulled down his black leather mask. Adjusting course he began to sail for the ship. He carefully pulled out his spy glass and looked toward the horizon. Sure enough there floated a lone ship, its sails worse for wear, and its flag though faded, bore the colors of Corona and Arendelle. In these particular waters, such flags would be a symbol to show that they did not mean any harm. But now they only served to wave a target from the highest mast.

             “Prepare the cannons! Ready weapons and get a hold of those smoke bombs! Remember lads; we want scared to dead… if possible.”

             There was a loud laugh from the crew as the ran to their stations. The ship was coming up fast. Hawkeye, had clambered out of the crow’s nest was now next to the captain, his spyglass out as well.

             “Looks like we’ll be in firing range in about… ten minutes sir.” He said, practically bouncing with excitement.

             Roberts grinned back at him, “Get your musket ready, lad. That boarding party looks like they’ll need all the help they can get.”

             Indeed it did look like they would need it. Even though the other ship’s crew was doing anything hostile (yet), Roberts could see several armed men on board. More so than a normal diplomatic ship. Roberts’ frown deepened. It was normal, especially with the amount of other pirates for there to be armed men on board a ship, especially merchant ships, but diplomatic ships? It was a sign of aggression, even with the amount of piracy nowadays, so usually those kinds of ships had just the crew armed, certainly not armed guards on top of that. _Something isn’t right._ Roberts thought grimly. He knew his crew could take them, but the extra muscle was a surprise… and pirates _did not_ like surprises, specifically armed kinds.

            Andrews ran up to Roberts; one hand on his sword and a pistol in his other hand. “That’s a lot of guards. Are you sure this is the right boat? I mean it’s normal for there to be guards, but that’s a lot of muscle, especially for a diplomatic mission…”

             Andrews stopped talking when Roberts raised his hand. “I know, I saw.” He told the quartermaster grimly. “We’ll just have to deal with it. Probably use more of those smoke bombs than we planned.”

             “Captain!” Shouted Kay, “They’ve spotted us. Looks like their trying to send a distress signal.”

             Several members of the crew jeered at this and even Roberts had to crack a smile, _idiots,_ he grinned to himself. Then turned to Kay and shouted, “Get Smarts out here and have him relay a message back to them. Tell him to ask who they are and what their status of their ship is.”

             “Captain, we’re in firing range!” shouted the ship’s Gunner.

             “Load the Cannons but don’t reveal them yet!” Roberts shouted back.

             “Captain Roberts!” shouted Smarts, “they say that their ship was separated from the convoy, they also say that they’re running out of supplies, their rudders’ broke and they’ve been adrift for three days.”

             “Good! That means their desperate!” Roberts laughed, “very trusting of them to tell us all this.”

             “Aye sir” Smarts giggled, “but I told them we were here on a delivery shipment. They want to see our colors.”

             “True enough” Roberts replied, “But they want to see our color’s eh? Here that lads! They want to see the colors!”

             Cheers erupted from the crew and many of them shook their cutlasses and pistols. Roberts gave a nod to the quartermaster and Andrews’ raised voice rang out; “Aim the Cannons, and hoist the Colors! Let’s show them why people fear the Dreaded Pirate Roberts!”

             The flaps on the side of the ship flipped upward revealing the cannons being pushed through the holes. The crew rushed to light the powder, and held the cannons steady. The cannons fired with a loud boom, and the mast on the poor diplomatic ship splintered. The crew cheered as the cannons were reloaded and fired again and again; the other ship trying desperately to defend themselves. They had been caught on unawares however, and only thing that happened was the soldiers on the enemy ship were scattered by the cannon fire.

            “Ready the smoke bombs, and prepare to board!” Andrews yelled over the cannons, and the crew jumped at the orders. 

            The crew of _The Mourning Angel_ lit the smoke bombs and threw them at the already damaged ship. The few soldiers that had managed to grab their weapons were now on the ground coughing as the gas released from the smoke bombs. The crew then grabbed several ropes and grappling hooks and threw them at _The Adgar_. Andrew and the pirates ran forward and leaped off the ship, and onto _The Adgar_ , weapon’s drawn.

             Roberts saw Andrews’ feet slam into one of the soldiers, before bringing the sword down in a flash, smacking the pommel into the man’s head. The guard stumbled back dazed, but Andrews was already moving. A boot to the groin, a pistol shot to the knee, the sword finding an enemy’s thigh. Andrews moved as if in a deadly dance, spinning and twirling, and taking down enemy soldiers as quickly as they would appear.

            Kay was not as graceful, but he was definitely just as deadly. He swung his two double bladed axes wildly, with his strength and reach, the blades always found flesh. Screams and howls could be heard as several of the soldiers suddenly went from choking on smoke, to screaming in pain because their arm or leg was suddenly missing. One poor soldier tried to get behind Kay, swinging his sword at Kay’s head, but Kay twisted and caught the sword in his teeth, before smashing his massive knee in the man’s groin. The man screamed, as Kay spat out the sword, raised his ax, and let it fall, and the man screamed no more.

             The rest of the pirate boarding party was just as effective; what they lacked in finesse, they made up for in numbers. Several of the pirates had cornered several guardsmen and were making short work of them. Sometimes an enemy soldier would suddenly scream mid charge and Roberts would know that Hawkeye’s musket had found its mark. The deck of the _HMS Adgar_ was quickly becoming slick with blood, and the air seemed to grow cold as death continued his feast.

             The captain of the falling ship ran out of his cabin, sword drawn, and Andrews rushed to meet him. The captain swung his sword and the quartermaster expertly dove underneath it, swinging sword with the momentum, slicing the captain’s side. Andrews rolled behind the poor man and twirled around, sword arcing as it met the man’s throat. Andrews pulled the man’s head back and Roberts saw the man’s face pale as his quartermaster whispered something in captain of _The Adgar_ ’s ear. The man’s face went stark white, and his mouth seemed to gape like a fish.

             “Stand down!” the poor man cried his voice higher than it should have been, “Countrymen, STAND DOWN!”

             Slowly the guardsmen and crew of the _HMS Adgar_ stopped fighting, and lowered their weapons. Roberts saw Andrews give orders to the boarding party, and saw his crewmates scramble below deck, gathering the fallen weapons, and forcing the conquered boatmen to kneel in surrender. Roberts gave a nod to his quartermaster and first mate, and Kay quickly took the captain by the scruff of the neck, while Andrews swung back onto _The Mourning Angel_ and disappeared below deck _._ Several minutes later, several men, both crew, guardsmen, and what looked like finely clothed servants came from the hold, hands on their heads in surrender. After a few moments, Roberts saw his Hawkeye walk down and yell something in the stairwell. Slowly the rest of his crew came up, with a single woman in tow, with swords pressed against her back.

             She was obviously a lady of sorts, Roberts could tell by the way she carried herself; even with the swords pressed to her back, her back was straight, her chin held high, and her very body language seemed to scream regality. She wore a teal dress, with long turquoise gloves that reached halfway to her elbows. She was incredibly pale, with her platinum blond hair in a strange version of a bun, and from his spyglass, Roberts could see her crystalline blue eyes glaring down at his crew.

            Roberts grabbed one of the spare grappling hooks and swung down on the _HMS Adgar_ , and quickly addressed its crew.

             “My, my, my,” Roberts smiled eyeing the fallen crew, “what do we have here? Bilge rats, and strong arms. Is there some kind of royal tournament that I don’t know about? Or perhaps not, considering your lackluster performance against my… humble crew. ” More sneering.

             “So,” Roberts continued, pointedly ignoring the Lady. Let her think that he didn’t think her important enough to address. They always hated that. “Perhaps a traveling circus? No, there’s no menagerie, though plenty of clowns.” This time he allowed himself a sideways glance at the lady. Some of the captured servants gasped. Roberts smile widened, and he allowed it to twist into a fairly malicious grin. He turned to the captain, and raised his voice.

             “So you’re the one in charge of this rabble. I can’t say I’m surprised with the way you’re sniveling over there.” He walked toward the cowering man, terrifying smile ever present.

             “Do you know what pirates do to people like you?” Although his voice was soft, he knew from the gasps from the crew that they had heard him. The captains eyes widened even wider and he began to tremble.

             Roberts arched his eyebrow, “you mean you don’t know what people like me do to people like you? Oh, shame. I had rather hoped my reputation as a pirate preceded me. Ah well, I suppose I can simply send a message to let you non believers know. Now, what kind of message should I send?” He asked rhetorically, though he knew his crew would immediately start shouting various torture methods. This was simply a game to them; like a child playing with their food before eating it.

             “Oh, I’ve got it!” Roberts exclaimed after a couple minutes of letting the captain sweat bullets; “I’ll give you a choice: my men cut off your tongues and feed it to the man next to you. We take your valuables and food from the hold and your quarters, and we leave you to drift after the storm and let you pray that Davey Jones has mercy on your souls. Or,” Roberts paused for dramatic effect, “You could give me the women. We’ll leave the food, and only take some of the valuables.”

             The captain looked at him incredulously, and Roberts chuckled, “I know, seems like a bad deal, but after a storm like that, my men are tired, and they could use some… fun.”

             The maids whimpered at this, and Roberts saw the Lady’s eyes flash. _Yep, there it is,_ now _she’s afraid, about time._ He didn’t like using these kind of scare tactics, but men had tendencies to make bad decisions when afraid. He could already see the gears turning in the captain’s head; if Roberts had thought he was nervous before, than this captain was sweating buckets now. The captain’s eyes drifted to the Lady, and he seemed to sigh. Roberts smiled slightly; the man was going to make a decision he knew he would regret.

            The captain opened his mouth to speak, but a cool female voice beat him to it; “let my men go.”

             Roberts turned and stared at The Lady. _Huh?_ He wondered, _but she’s high born, rich blokes like her_ never _care about the people under them! And here I thought I was going to have to be a little more persuasive. She has to be playing some kind of angle, time to call her bluff._

            “And why, pray tell would I do something like that?” asked Roberts smiling smugly.

             “Because if you don’t,” the Lady began, “the entire Arendelle Navy will be after your hide. Let us go, and I promise your punishments will be lenient.”

             Roberts blinked, and did the only thing he could think of that would throw her off; he laughed. His crew quickly joined in exchanging howls and sniggers with one another. This lasted for a minute before Roberts turned back to the lady and arranged his face to look sympathetic, but allowed his smirk to remain.

            “Awww,” he cooed teasingly, “you poor thing, you. You must think we’re armatures, who simply got lucky, am I right? Well then, I guess it wasn’t you who asked to see my _particular_ jolly roger then.”

             The lady didn’t respond, though her eyebrows nit together in confusion. Her glove hands, which had been fisted at her sides, seemed to unconsciously come up and cover her chest. Roberts smiled coyly now and turned back toward _The Mourning Angel._

             “Mr. Hawkeye! Lower the colors to half mast, so Her Ladyship can have a better look-see, eh?”

             Hawkeye gave a salute and began to lower the flag. Slowly the black flag rippled in the wind, and became clear to all those on _The Adgar._ Roberts heard gasps of shock, and footsteps as prisoners took an involuntary step away from him. The Lady’s eyes went from confused to forced cool indifference, but not before Roberts could see another emotion enter her eyes; panic. She turned to him her eyes narrowing, but her arms still crossed.

            “Captain Roberts” she said simply, in understanding.

             “That’s the _Dreaded Pirate Roberts_ to you, now that you know my name, it would be polite to inform me of yours,” Roberts continued smirk widening.

             The woman met his gaze evenly, “I am Lady Genova of House Tollak of Arendelle.”

             Roberts smiled _at least she’s honest_ he thought to himself then spoke, addressing the rest of the ship: “As you can see, I already have the Arendelle Navy after me, and the Corona Royal Navy, and the Southern Isles, and even that tiny little Duchy, Westelton has its pathetic excuse for a navy after me as well. And yet here I am, with my crew, holding your hapless guards at bay, giving your captain a choice of how he wants me to treat himself and crew. And that brings me back to my question,” Captain Roberts dropped his smile and put on his best serious face, and turned back to the trembling captain.

             “So,” Captain Roberts said coldly, “what do you want, your women, or you and your crew’s lives!”

             The captain trembled, looking from The Lady, to his crew and the guardsmen, his sweat coming off his skin by the bucketful. He trembled from head to toe, and stared at The Lady, looking almost pleading. Suddenly The Lady stepped forward.

            “I have a new deal to propose to you, Captain Roberts,” She said her voice betraying no emotion.

             Roberts turned to her and quirked an eyebrow, “do tell, Your Ladyship.” He gestured for her to continue.

             “Leave the food, and crew’s valuables, all of the crew and guards will be allowed to stay on the ship and leave in peace, as well as my attendants. In exchange, take myself and my valuables and allow everyone else to leave in peace.”

             The captain’s eyes widened and he cried out, “No, you can’t do this Your H-” The captain suddenly stopped talking as The Lady glared at him, and the temperature seemed to drop, in fact Roberts could swear his breath had started to crystallize in front of him, but it stopped as soon as the captain stopped talking, and swallowed visibly.

             Roberts smiled and turned to The Lady, and pretended to think, “I find your terms… acceptable. Search her quarters and lock her in the brig!”

             He waited until The Lady disappeared down _The Mourning Angel_ ’s hold before turning back to his crew.

             “Remove their weapons, and powder, take the prisoners and lock them below deck, except for the captain here; tie him upside down to the mast, and set this hunk of wood to full sail and set it on course for Arendelle!” He ordered. Without another word, Roberts grabbed a rope and swung back aboard _The Mourning Angel_.

* * *

             Roberts was reading the contract over again and was halfway through it when he felt _The Mourning Angel_ set sail, away from _The HMS Adgar_. He heard a knock at his door and it opened to reveal Kay.

             “Not a bad haul on board sir. Had lots of jewels, should be easy to sell. One of the maids, Gerda I think her name was, refused to part with Lady Genova, so we stuck her in the brig as well. Very feisty that one. Would have asked you first, but I think she even scared Scar.”

             Roberts nodded, “ah well, no harm done. Now all we have to do is sail to Westelton and drop her off at this safe house, while the kingdom of Arendelle pays the reward. Sounds easy enough, though I have to admit, I’m rather impressed with this ‘Lady Genova’ she actually offered to come with us, even after I pulled the ‘lonely crew’ card. Very impressive.”

             Suddenly, the door to his quarters burst open to reveal Andrews. Roberts and Kay re-sheathed their swords and sat back down as the quartermaster shut the door and stormed to the table.

             “What the HELL were you thinking?!” Andrews’ eyes were wide and frantic; to Roberts it almost looked as though Andrews was scared.

             “Andrews,” Roberts started calmly, but Kay cut him off, glaring at Andrews.

             “Cool it!” Kay said sharply “I know, the second lady wasn’t part of the contract but-”

             “What?!” Cried Andrews, staring daggers at them both, “I’m not talking about Gerda! Why didn’t you tell me?! Why did I have to walk into the brig and see HER there?!”

             “Andrews,” Roberts repeated louder, but still the quartermaster ignored him.

             “We agreed!” Andrews continued furiously, “we signed the code, we ALL did and you didn’t think that TELLING me would be a good thing?! Did you think I would just NOT NOTICE that-”

             “ANNA!” Roberts shouted, and the shouting stopped, but began again,

             “DON’T ‘Anna’ me _Gawain_ ,” she growled, she opened her mouth to continue but Kay cut her off.

             “Anna, please, what the HELL are you talking about? The only people in the brig are that Gerda woman and Lady Genova, who we already talked about. What are you so mad about?”

             Anna stopped and stared at the both of them, and then let out a curse, “Crabbers lied. That’s no ‘Lady Genova’, Kaleb.”

             Anna took a deep breath and stared out the window of the Captains quarters, watching the flag with the chained skeleton and door being lowered off the mast, the flag that had been with them for so long before turning back to the two of them.

            “The woman in the brig is no ‘Lady Genova’,” the quartermaster said slowly, “it’s my sister; Queen Elsa of Arendelle.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any confusion, I’ll put some translations for the “Pirate Speak” that I wrote in;
> 
> • Colors/jolly roger= Pirate Flag  
> • Port= Left side of ship  
> • Starboard= Right side of ship  
> • Prow= Front  
> • Stern= Back  
> • Quartermaster= Second in command, in charge of Crew, and leads raids on other ships  
> • Mate= In charge of giving out jobs around the ship and keeping peace between crew members  
> • Bosun= Third in command, higher than a mate, but under quartermaster; in charge of the status of the ship (quality of the rigging/ropes, sails, how much gunpowder, and weapons are in the hold, etc.)  
> • Gunner= In charge of weapons such as how much gunpowder, and weapons are in the hold, and making sure that all the crew’s swords/firearms are combat ready.  
> • Navigator= In charge of maps, recognizing flags of different nations, and even communicating with other ships through flag signals, and measuring distance/finding routes to take  
> • “Bless me barnacles”= (figure of speech, basically the pirate equivalent of ‘holy cow’ or ‘I don’t believe it’)


	3. Intel and Insects

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BatteriezNotIncluded here, just want to say thank you for being patient in waiting for this chapter, my muse decided to take some time off :-(  
> As usual, everything belongs to Disney (except the OC’s)  
> Enjoy!

Chapter 2

  _Seven Years Ago: two weeks after running away_

             The six pirate wannabes were sweaty, dirty, and had never felt better in their lives. The sensation of freedom ran through them with an incredible feeling. Gawain was at the wheel of _The Junker_ , as they had jokingly started calling the floating hunk of wood they were currently sailing (or trying to at least). For Anna, through all two weeks, her smile had never wavered, even finding out there wasn’t technically a toilet. For the first time in forever she was _free_. She wasn’t the spare, or a princess, or being yelled at to sit up straight, or be ladylike. Sure she wasn’t _totally_ free of responsibilities. She had to help the boys clean, and do basic maintenance on _The Junker_ to make sure they didn’t wake up to the darn thing sinking in their sleep.

             Gawain was steering the ship, sometimes taking turns with Chatterbox, whenever Gawain simply got too tired and cold to do it. Smarts was in the lower hold, looking at the new maps and getting use to all the new navigation instruments. The rest of them were simply getting used to unfurling the sails, adjusting the rigging, and finding out the different parts of a ship.

             According to Gawain, the first place they needed to go was a place town called Tortuga. From Gawain’s description, it was an incredibly seedy place, to put it lightly, and the kind of place that would probably give her parents a heart attack if they ever found out Anna was going there. The one thing Anna was disappointed at was that they weren’t flying their flag, but Gawain had (wisely) pointed out that flying a pirate flag while still in Arendelle waters with a runaway Princess on board probably wasn’t the best idea.

            One of these days, Anna and Kaleb were sparring. They were pretty evenly matched, although while Anna excelled in combining her attacks in quick finesse, Kaleb swung his sword savagely, focusing on brute strength. Even though the swords were in no way dulled, both of them were smiling as they attacked and parried the other.

             “Come on, Kaleb,” Anna taunted rolling behind the big teenager, “at least try to fight.”

             Kaleb grinned back as he swung his sword in straight arc, “at least I don’t fight like a girl!”

             “Oh, you’re going to pay for that one!” Anna laughed, glaring playfully at the bigger boy, as she dodged his sword.

             Suddenly Gawain let out a cry, and the two stopped fighting and ran over to him, stopping when they saw him face palming repeatedly.

             “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” he cursed angrily, glaring furiously.

             “Who’s stupid?” Anna asked cautiously.

             “Me,” he groaned and looked at Anna apologetically, “Kaleb, mind getting the others out here? I just remembered something important we need to do before we get to port.”

             Kaleb turned and left, leaving Gawain, and a very confused Anna.

             “So,” Anna began slowly, “what’s going on?”

             “I’m really sorry Anna,” began Gawain, looking at her apologetically, “but, you’re going to need a disguise.”

             Anna blinked, “what? Why?”

             “Girls are considered bad luck on ships, I know: it’s stupid,” he told her before she could object, “but when we eventually get a full crew, no one will want to join us if there’s a woman on board,” he paused and then winked slyly at her, “unless they don’t _know_ there’s a woman on board.”

            Anna pouted, “Do I have to?” she whined, but nodded.

             Gawain grinned, “Don’t worry, you shouldn’t have to cut your hair, just keep it in the braided pigtails, and hid those in a hat or hood. The only other thing you need to worry about now is your voice. “

             “And her name,” added Chatterbox, coming up to them, followed by Kaleb and the others.

             “Oh, right,” said Gawain sheepishly, “any ideas?”

             “Andrew.” Said Pike, as Smoke said, “Anders.”

             “Soooo, Andrews?” asked Anna, looking confused.

             They looked among one another and slowly nodded, Anna looked at Gawain but he simply shrugged.

             “It’s your name.” he said simply, and slowly, Anna nodded.

             “I like it,” she said after a moment, “Andrews it is.”

             “Well get you some better clothes when we get to Tortuga,” Gawain spoke, looking at each of them, “speaking of names, we should all have aliases, except for you three.” He gestured to Pike, Smoke and Chatterbox.

            “How about Roberts,” suggested Anna, “he was a really feared pirate in one of the books I’ve read?”

             “Works for me,” Said Gawain, grinning again, “what about you Kaleb?”

             “Kay,” he grunted simply, and shrugged.

             “Right then,” stated Gawain/Roberts, and grinned, “I wanted to call all of you here so I we can vote on who gets to do what when we get a proper ship and a real crew.”

             “Well I’m already cook,” Pike grinned, “and besides, your Captain, don’t you get to pick out jobs?”

             “Well yeah,” agreed Gawain slowly, “but the crew has to approve. I would say, Smarts is navigator, Kay is the first mate, Smoke would make a good Gunner, Chatterbox would be Bosun, and Anna- sorry _Andrews_ I would like to be quartermaster.”

            “Quartermaster is second in command,” stated Chatterbox, “why her?”

             Gawain stared at him simply, “Quartermaster is someone who has the respect of the crew, who leads the attacks on the other vessels, and has the power to veto the captain. I want my quartermaster to be someone that everyone can get along with, someone that will be respected as a person, those are the kinds of people that are good leaders, and Anna is naturally likable. She’ll be perfect, she has a good head on her shoulders, and she already has you guys running around without needing to bark orders or anything, it just comes naturally with her. It would be a shame to waste that kind of talent.”

             Anna looked touched as the boys slowly nodded, and then each agreed to their jobs and the assigned positions of the others. _Quartermaster_ , Anna thought excitedly, _I’m a quartermaster, not a spare or a princess. I’m needed, and important. I won’t mess this up, and I won’t let them down!_

* * *

           Tortuga was just as nasty as Roberts had made it sound, if not more so. The whole town seemed to reek of rum and salt, and looked as though it had been made from leftover ship parts. _Remember Anna_ , she thought to herself _, here, you’re Andrews, and Gawain is Roberts. Don’t forget and don’t mess this up, this is your fresh start, no more being the spare._

             Roberts walked purposely to an old shabby looking building (if you could even call it a building), and walked inside. It was a bar of sorts, and Anna ( _no Andrews, I’m Andrews here,_ she chided herself) followed him to the front. He waited patiently as the barman slowly took them in.

             “Waddaya want, kids?” He asked his voice grating again against Andrews’ ears.

             Roberts smiled slightly, “A drink, this _is_ a bar, ain’t it?”

             The man grunted and turned to get their drinks. Roberts smiled and looked back at them “okay, walk around the bar and see if you hear anything interesting. Stay out of the middle, don’t start any fights, and only sit at a table if you have to. Got it?” they nodded, grabbed their drinks, and split up.

             The inside of the bar was dirty, but had a strange golden glow to it. The walls were covered in animal heads, which gave Anna the strange sensation of being stared at. She took a sip of her drink, and tried desperately not to choke. _It’s probably supposed to be rum_ , she thought sourly, as she passed a rather loud bunch of men sitting at a table.

             “-especially with that new shipment coming in from Weselton. Poor blokes, barely in manhood and being thrown into debtors’ prison because their parents couldn’t cough up. Apparently it’s all for ‘Duke Duck’ to show off his new warship.”

            Anna froze, and slowly turned to the men at the table, “What was that about a warship?”

             The men turned to look at her, and one of them scoffed, “have ye been under a rock? Ev’ryone knows about the new Weselton ship, supposedly the crown jewel of the Duck’s fleet, three masted beauty with, double cannon decks on each side. Ev’ry bilge rat from ‘ere to the Southern Isles knows about it.”

            _Andrews_ glowered, “been at sea for the past two weeks, just got into port actually.” She tried to mimic the gruff accent that she had heard from the tavern’s patrons. The men looked at her and slowly nodded. “Fair enough, word only reached us a week ago.”

             _Okay, I need to be subtle about this_ , “the rumors you heard wouldn’t by chance ‘ave included the route the ship was takin’ would it?” _Okay, maybe I need to work on subtlety._ She silently cursed herself as the men looked at each other with a greedy gleam in their eyes. She quietly looked around for Ga _\- Roberts_ and tried to signal him over, but he either didn’t see her or was having his own problems.

             “I might know, but me memory is a little… foggy. Mind sweet’n it up a bit?” said the man with a yellow teethed grin?”

             “That depends,” Said Andrews, trying to sound tough, “On how clear your memory is.”

             The man scowled, and beckoned his friends into a huddle. Meanwhile Anna reached into her pocket and felt to see how many coins she had. Suddenly she felt something sharp against her fingers, after feeling around, she realized it was a snowflake necklace; the last gift Elsa had ever given her before her isolation. One of the men grabbed her hand and yanked. She tried to extricate her fingers from the chain, but too late, the necklace came out of her pocket with her hand. The men eyed the necklace greedily.

             “That’s solid silver that is, and a sapphire in the middle by the looks of it,” one of the men commented smiling sickly, “I’d say that would rouse our memories real good.” Anna’s eyes darkened, “not this,” she said firmly, “I’ll give you coin, but not this.”

             “Then we have a problem,” said the man, his eyes just as dark as hers.

             “An’ what problem would that be, I wonder?” it was Roberts, with Kay standing behind him.

             “And how is this your business, kid?” the man glowered.

             “They know about a Weselton warship, that’s transporting blokes to debtors’ prison, but this gentlemen here won’t share the route.”

             “I will too tell the route, for tha’ silver snowflake.”

             “And I told you I would give you gold instead,” Anna glowered. Roberts looked at the necklace and seemed to recognize it. He put a hand on Anna’s shoulder and reached into his own pocket, and pulled out one of her brooches, which she had taken the night she was thrown out. “How about you tell me, for this?” Said Roberts with a smile, tossing the gold brooch from hand to hand teasingly, it’s rubies flashing in the light. One of the men licked their lips, and nodded to the others, “Done.” The leader held out his hand but Roberts pulled his hand back and waved a finger. The men glared but relented.

             “It’s going to port in Corona, to be shown off, and get supplies before heading to the Southern Isles to drop off the lads to debtors prison.” Roberts tossed the brooch to the man and carefully steered Anna out of the tavern. When they were back on the beach Roberts turned to her, “why?”

            Anna knew what he was asking; why did she not want to trade the necklace? The truth was Anna didn’t want to part with something that served as the last reminder of a time when her family, Elsa included, loved her. The necklace reminded her of all the fun they had had; all the snowmen, the snowball fights, the hot chocolates afterwards. The necklace was a symbol of her best memories, and even if her family, Elsa included, had thrown her to the wolves, she wasn’t ready to give up on them, not yet anyway. She sighed and looked and looked at Gawain, and he seemed to understand, and he motioned at _The Junker_.

             “Next stop,” He said, his voice laced with determination, “Corona.”

* * *

              Corona really was a beautiful kingdom, even if some of its splendor had faded, along with its joyous mood when the princess was lost. To Anna, and the boys, however it looked as beautiful as could be especially with the large three masted warship, with the name The Neptune, painted on the prow, with the Weselton flag flying high on its highest mast. It really was rather stupid of the Duke to have it sail all the way to Corona alone, but none of them were going to complain, as it would be hard enough to steal the boat while dealing with its rather large, armed crew. _The Junker_ was just pulling into Corona waters when Anna suddenly heard Smoke curse.

             “Looks like the Duck decided to come personally,” he grimaced, glaring through his spyglass.

             “Why do they call him that?” Anna asked curiously, and Smoke grinned, “you mean why does everyone call him ‘duke duck’?” Anna nodded, and Smoke giggled, “Because they say that when he dances he looks like a cross between a duck and a chicken with its head cut off.”

  
             Anna let out a snort at that and took out a spyglass of her own and looked through it to the warship. _Those men at the tavern may have been drunk, but they sure weren’t exaggerating when they said that ship was amazing._ Indeed, it was; with its white sails, and green and silver trim, as well as the cannons protruding from the sides and even the front of the prow, and the blue figurehead that overlooked the harbor, the ship looked like piece of art. Judging by the looks on the other’s faces, she guessed that they were enamored with the ship as well.

            “How the hell are we going to get past all of those guards?” asked Pike frowning. Anna was secretly wondering the same thing: the vessel was practically crawling with armed guards and crewmen, while the ‘Duck’ was pompously walking across the deck. After a moment, it looked like the duke had seen something not to his liking and began to yell at some poor cabin boy. His two body guards grabbed the boy by the scruff of the neck and punched him in the gut, before throwing him off to the side. Anna felt her jaw tighten at the spectacle, especially when it looked like some of the crewmen were laughing at the poor boy.

             “Let’s go on land, and you three follow him, meanwhile, I’m going to see if I can make some friends.” Gawain ordered and the crew split up, heading for land.

* * *

            Gawain couldn’t help but smile as he saw the Corona Mail Company at the edge of Corona, where the docks met the inner city. Being in so central to the world map, Corona was where all mail that was to be sent and sorted, ready to be mailed across the kingdoms. The entire company was huge, and royally funded, which kept the kingdom of Corona bountiful. He slowly made it to the central office and suddenly heard the sound of a scuffle. Never able to stay out of a good fight, Roberts followed the sound, hand on his sword, when he spotted two familiar faces; the Stabbington Brothers. They appeared to be holding a boy about eight by the scruff of the neck and scaring him. Both were smirking and muttering to the boy in low tones. The boys face paled, and Roberts decided to step in.

             “Threatening a little boy, that’s not very sporting” Roberts said, sword in hand.

             The Brothers scowled and the one in front turned and spoke impatiently, “this is none of your concern boy, leave now and we won’t kill you.”

             “How about, you leave the boy alone permanently, and _I_ won’t kill _you”_ Roberts smiled coldly, tapping his sword on the side of his foot.

             The Brothers pulled out their own swords and charged, Roberts grinned widened and parried, one and slashed at the other hitting one across the eye, the Brother clutched his face and scowled, the other brother roared and came around again. Roberts ducked and slashed his sword, angling it to get under the Brother’s sword, and he clutched his mouth. The brothers looked around saw guards coming towards them, the Brothers glared at Roberts and ran. One of the Guards looked at Roberts, gave him a thankful nod, and ran after the brothers. Gawain turned and walked into the alley where the boy was looking bewildered.

            “You-you beat them,” he said stupidly, then broke into a grin, “Thanks man! They’ve been being meanies to me forever!”

             Roberts chuckled, “those kinds of people are like that. But why were they bothering you.”

             “They were angry that I wasn’t playing the game fast enough.” The boy said sadly, when Roberts looked confused, the boy pulled out a pad of paper, and showed the Pirate. “I take the numbers and symbols and make them into secret messages! It’s really fun and they gave me candy for it, but they were angry that I didn’t do it faster. But it’s not my fault, my dad made me go to the sorting room for the weekend because he caught me out past my bedtime.”

             “I take it your dad is a post master?” Roberts asked, the boy slowly, the little boy grinned and nodded.

             “Yeah!” the boy grinned excitedly, “he just got pro… pro…” the boy frowned deep in thought.

             “Promotion?” Gawain asked and the boy grinned and nodded. Then he stopped for a moment and thrust out his hand, “I’m Rascal, at least that’s what everyone calls me, and I’m a runner for the Corona Mail Company.” The little boy puffed out his chest proudly.

            “I’m Roberts, I’m a privateer, and I have a proposition for you; I’ll pay you money for your game, and when you’re older you and I can decide how much you need.”

             The Little boy grinned, “Sure mister,” and then frowned, how will I send you the answers?” Roberts grinned and wrote a small address in the dirt, an old house that Gawain had been born in. long since abandoned, but not completely abandoned. “Send them here.”

             “Can I ask you a question,” Roberts asked, and the boy nodded, “do you know anything about that big ship from Weselton?”

             “Oh, you mean _The Neptune_ , the one with the blue figurehead?” Roberts nodded, and the boy continued, “My dad told me that it’s supposed to be the fastest ship ever built, and is supposed to be carrying people who did bad stuff. He also told me that the Duke is carrying a lot of money on the ship, so he can buy stuff when he makes port, but that he’s going to leave tomorrow.”

             Roberts grinned, and gave Rascal a few coins, “thanks kid, I’ll keep in touch. Just one more thing; what did the message the Brothers want you to tell them?”

             Rascal grinned, “Oh, it said something about a convoy heading for the Southern Isles, that’s supposed to have a LOT of money on it. Anyway, thanks mister!”

             Roberts watched Rascal run back to the mail office, a thoughtful look on his face. He smiled softly and slowly made his way back to _The Junker_.

* * *

            Anna was bored. ‘Duke Duck’ was by far the creepiest person she had ever laid eyes on. He had quickly shown his traits as a full-blown jerk, from telling his guards to beat up young kids, to monologuing his political plans to no one in particular. Personally, Anna was beginning to question the man’s sanity as the day wore on. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Smarts roll his eyes at the Duke’s antics.

             Duck turned and walked briskly into a large building with the Corona seal on the archway above the door. Anna assumed it was some kind of political building, _shame I didn’t pay attention to those in my lessons, oh well Elsa would probably know…_ Anna froze, and shook her head violently trying to rid herself of thoughts of certain people. Kay quirked an eyebrow at her and she glared at him.

             “So…” Smarts began slowly, “don’t most Corona buildings have skylights?”

             Kay nodded and reached into his sack and grabbed a long coil of rope. “After you, Quartermaster.”

             Anna huffed, tied the rope to her waist, and began to climb. Once she was at the top she carefully tied the end of the rope to a pillar and went over to the various skylights. After three empty rooms, and a bathroom ( _seriously, who puts a skylight in a bathroom_? Thought Anna) she saw the Duck, his guards, and three other official looking men enter the room. Quickly, Anna reached into her pouch, pulled out her lock-picks, and opened the skylight.

            “—as their closest partner in trade, I can honestly say that I have no idea what caused the decision,” the Duck was saying, his nasally voice sounding proper, “the king and queen refuse to reveal any hints on what caused them to close the gates. The only thing I can say for certain is that the only time one is allowed inside is when doing business when a meeting is scheduled in advance, which is rather unfortunate as I would _love_ to drop by for a pleasant visit on occasion.”

             Anna felt a tap on her shoulder and saw Kay and Smarts looking at her frowning, “what did we miss?” whispered Smarts, jerking his thumb at the four officials.

             Anna rolled her eyes and shook her head, “nothing.” She whispered back, and the three of them turned their attention back on the four officials, who were now discussing a shipment of gunpowder that had come in recently.

             Anna had to admit, listening to politics from the roof, was not much better than when she had had to learn from her tutor. It was complicated, boring, she didn’t understand most of it, (and judging by the looks on Kay and Smarts, they didn’t either). While waiting for anything interesting she peeked over around the roof for something to occupy herself, when she suddenly spotted a very large spider near the window they were looking at. Carefully she pulled out a handkerchief and picked up the spider, and slowly brought it over toward the window, a wicked gleam in her eyes. Smarts peeked over to her, did a double take on what was in the cloth, and violently shook his head. He reached over and tried to grab the spider, but instead grabbed the kerchief, and after a brief tug of war, the spider went flying.

            Kay, Smarts and Anna watched in horror, as the large spider fell in seemingly slow motion, tumbling through the air. Anna snatched the kerchief and stuffed it back in her pocket as the spider continued to fall, when in suddenly made its landing… on the nose of one of the guards. There was silence in the room, as the three-wannabe pirates looked at each other in horror, before they heard the un-manliest scream any of them had ever heard.

             “GET IT OFF!” the man shrieked, suddenly hitting himself in the nose, knocking the Duke’s spectacles off in the process. Immediately, he started running around the room, his two guards chased after him, the other dignitaries following closely after. After several laps around the room, with an insane amount of high-pitched squealing, the Duck ran out of the room, with the guards, and representatives close behind. The three of them looked at one another, too stunned to speak, until Anna burst out laughing. She was quickly joined by Kay and Smarts, until they had to stop due to their shortness of breath and stitches in their sides. They quickly made their way to the rendezvous with Roberts, who was waiting for them at the docks. Seeing their grins, he arched an eyebrow, and the three of them quickly explained what had happened. As the story unfolded, a small smile appeared on Roberts’ face.

             “Andrews,” he said with a smirk, “two things; one, you’re a genius, and two, I know how we’re going to get that ship.”

             “How?” asked Kay, frowning, and Roberts grinned again before answering.

             “We’re going to kidnap the Duke.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah yeah, I know, lots of filler, but it’s important for later chapters okay. Leave Kudos and Reviews please.
> 
> Peace out.


	4. Going Out With A Bang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got inspired and I hope you enjoy the chapter. Other than that I have a couple points I need to go over;  
>  1) I beta all of my own stories so if you see something wrong, PLEASE tell me  
>  2) Please review and leave Kudos. I give brownie points to those with constructive criticism (though keep in mind this is my first fanfic)  
>  3) This chapter is dedicated to Monty Oum. His creativity was limitless and was an inspiration to many. May he rest in peace.

Chapter 3

  _Seven Years ago; Continued_

            Anna grimaced staring down at the deck of _The Neptune_ thankful for her drawn hood shielding her from the wind and cold. W _hy me_? She grimaced, thinking of what she now had to do. She had to admit, Gawain’s plan was genius, but it was also suicidal, for her at least. So there she was high in the rigging of the Weselton ship waiting for Kay’s signal holding a bag of live spiders, with Smoke and Gawain hanging off the side off the boat somewhere. Suddenly she saw it, a small flicker of candlelight, waving in an arc, then flames climbing higher and higher, before she heard the faint tolling of alarm bells. Quickly Anna scaled down the rigging and looked around for the Duck’s guards. She quickly saw them stationed outside the captain’s cabin, looking serious. Anna grinned and quickly tiptoed her way across one of the cross beams on the masts, until she was directly above the guard, by about twenty feet, and dumped the bag of spiders on top of him.

            The chaos was instantaneous; horrified shrieks and screams could suddenly be heard all over the deck, as the one guard started running in a panic, and the other chased after him, several men came running out from below deck, blades drawn to see what was the matter, only to be run over by the panicking guards. Anna quickly dropped down and landed with a soft thump before drawing her sword, and breaking the door open. The Duck and the Captain looked up from their maps, and seeing her; a hooded figure in the doorway with a sword drawn, the captain quickly drew his own sword and charged. Anna parried, and for the first time in forever, was thankful of all the sword training she had done with the other boys, while out of the castle. The Captain was strong, his thick sword seemed better suited for a knight in an arena rather than a close the quarters of the cabin, and Anna tried to use that to her advantage. Going in close she swung her sword in a dance, trying to keep the man on his toes, and the Captain struggled to keep up with her quick swings, until finally; he thrust his sword down, sending it crashing toward her skull. Anna reacted on instinct, arching her sword to catch his, and redirecting the momentum at him. Both of their swords connected with the captain’s neck, and the man was no more.

             The Duke, who had been cowering under the table, let out a squeal of terror, and Anna, her head still rushing from adrenaline, pointed her bloody sword at him, making him go still.

             “You’re coming with me,” she said deepening her voice, and grabbed the scruff of his neck and pressed her blade to his neck. Quickly, she half ran half dragged the Duck out of the Cabin and ran off the deck. Before she could leave the Duck screamed, “SAVE ME!” and the guards on the deck ran after her, leaving the ship almost completely devoid of people. It was deserted enough that no one noticed two figures sneaking below deck, swords drawn.

* * *

            Roberts grinned, at the Andrews’ retreating figure, with the Duck in tow. _She sure knows how to cause a ruckus_ , he thought proudly, thinking of all her stories of chaos when she lived in Arendelle. Quickly, he signaled to Smoke and the two of them climbed on board the ship, and snuck below decks.

            “Now to find those prisoners,” muttered Smoke, after knocking out a guard. The two of them continued to sneak around the ship, travelling through several storage rooms, and even the crew’s quarters, before suddenly, they found another trapdoor, with a ladder leading down. Quickly, and quietly, the two boys went down, hid behind a crate, and quickly looked around. This was the bottom of the ship, one-half of it was devoted to storage, and the other half was guarded by four guards, with both swords and pistols. Roberts grimaced muttering, “this is gunna hurt,” before putting a hand on his sword.

             Suddenly a hand gently touched his and he twisted in surprise. Behind him stood the boy who he had seen being beaten by the Duck’s men when they had sailed into Corona. The boy’s face was heavily scarred, and was bigger than Roberts had first seen, perhaps as big as Kay. The boy put his finger to his lips, and gave Roberts and Smoke two rolls of cloth.

 “Use these to cover your swords,” he whispered his voice naturally harsh and grating, as if his throat was scarred as well.

 “Why are you helping us?” whispered Smoke, confused, and the boy grinned lopsidedly, as one of his scars was across his lips and prevented the left side from moving.

             “One; I hate those bastards,” he gestured the guards, “and two, my little brother is in there.” He gestured to the door.

             “What’s your name lad?” asked Roberts eyeing the scarred teen.

             The boy smiled humorlessly and said, “Call me Scar.”

             Roberts nodded, “just so you know as the soon to be famous pirate Roberts, I’m taking the ship, I hope you don’t mind,” If possible Scar’s grin widened, “Be my guest. Follow my lead.”

             They nodded and followed Scar, with cloth bundles hiding their weapons. Scar walked up to the guards and cleared his throat, and lowered his head, hunching his shoulders, as if to appear smaller that he actually was. “Let us through, sirs, we need to put these with the rest of the sail repair swatches.” The men rolled their eyes, unlocked the door, and pushed the boys through, before shutting the door again. Roberts winked at Smoke, and Smoke promptly tripped ‘accidently’ knocking into one of the guards. The man snarled, rammed his fist into Smokes stomach before kicking into the next room, and slammed the door behind the three of them.

             Roberts carefully knelt beside Smoke and carefully helped him up, carful to keep his weapons concealed. “You okay?” he asked quietly. Smarts grimaced, and slowly held up a ring of keys, careful not to let the other guards see. Roberts slowly nodded and took a spare dagger out of his boot and passed it to Smarts, nodding again.

             The room was filled with cells (which were more like cages) lining up both sides of the ship, leaving only a small space in between for a pathway. Each cage was filled with people, mostly young, some on the older side. All of them were dirty, and looked like they needed a good meal. Roberts grimaced again, and casually snuck behind a guard, that he saw had a pistol. He peeked over and saw Smoke standing behind two other guards, his own dagger in hand as well as Gawain’s. Roberts quickly grabbed the man and slammed his head into the nearest cage, just as Smoke stabbed the daggers into the two other guard’s throats. There was a sudden hush over the prisoners. Roberts, held out the keys, and jingled them to get the prisoner’s attention.

             “Gentlemen,” Roberts began, “I am commandeering this ship, am in need of a crew to do so… any takers?”

* * *

            Anna continued running, jumping on a few crates and climbing up to the rooftops of a Corona storage building, before putting her free running skills to good use, running, jumping, ducking, and dodging her pursuers. _Yeash, they must have had an entire military unit on that ship_ , Anna winced as she looked at the number of pursuers, chasing after her and her prisoner. She was doing every trick she knew, trying desperately to keep out of her enemies reach, but keeping them close enough to continue chasing her. Finally she reached the checkpoint that they had agreed on, and she turned to the Duke, and said, “Well, nice meeting you, Duck of Weaseltown,” before throwing him off the roof. The soldiers scrambled to catch the tiny man, as the Dukes face turned beet red before screaming after her, “IT’S _DUKE_ OF _WESELTON_!”

            Anna continued to sprint across the rooftops, carefully lighting a match, before dropping on a roof that they had coated in oil the previous day. The abandoned building burst into flames and Anna leaped off the building as the heat pressed against her back, and she heard the soldiers scream behind her. She leapt off the roof and rolled on the ground, and continued to run through the alleyways. Finally, she found the alley that Kay was hiding in, waiting impatiently.

             “’Bout time you showed up,” Kaleb grunted, to which Anna huffed in response, “let’s just get out of here, shall we?”

             Kaleb nodded and the two of them ran through the alley, on the rooftops, and back toward the docks. The two of them heard yelling and screaming coming from the Weselton warship, and quickly drew their weapons, before grabbing ropes and leaping onto the ship.

             The deck was chaos; soldiers and sailors were locked in combat with people that were clearly the prisoners, some with pistols, others with swords, and a few with improvised weapons like planks of wood. Several of the soldiers were being thrown off the boat, while other soldiers were simply jumping off to save the rioters the trouble. At the helm of the ship was Roberts fighting off three different men with Smoke, and two other boys; a large boy that had several noticeable scars all over his body, and a smaller boy that looked slightly gangly with wiry black hair. Anna sprinted forward, and slammed her sword into one of the soldier’s heads and threw him over the side of the boat. Kay decided to choose that moment to slam his fist into one of the soldiers fighting Roberts, knocking him through the air and off the side. They heard a loud yell as several of the former prisoners charged forward and finished off the last off the soldiers.

             “All right lads,” Roberts yelled to the now soldier less ship, “Raise the mains and colors, hoist the anchor, and let’s get the hell out of here!”

             The men jumped to fulfill the orders of their new captain, and slowly, _The Neptune_ began to turn out of the Corona port. Roberts shouted something to the wiry boy, and he practically jumped onto the rigging and climbed into the crow’s nest, a spyglass in his teeth, as Roberts strode over to the ship’s wheel and took it in his hands.

             Anna jogged over to Roberts’ side, and looked around at their new crew. It looked as though most of them were sixteen or older, most of them looking as though it had been a long time since they had a decent meal. Almost all of them had a look on their face that seemed to tell her that they had nowhere to go, or had lost everything. As she stood, she got a good look at the boy who had been helping Roberts and Smoke. He was very big, though lean, his skin an olive color, and his black hair wild, reminding her of a lion’s mane, and his face (as well as most of his body) was covered in scars, including one over his acid green eyes.

            Roberts saw her looking and grinned, “Andrews, this is Scar, Scar, meet the quartermaster of this fine ship, Andrews.” Scar looked at her and nodded, and then pointed to the boy in the crow’s nest, “that’s my brother, Hawkeye.” He said in a strange raspy, yet baritone voice.

             “Everyone seems to know what they’re supposed to do well enough,” Anna commented in her ‘Andrews’ voice. Roberts nodded, “I gave them a little crash course in sailing while we were getting them out, so they’ll know the basics, after where home free, we’ll sort them properly.”

             A voice rang from the top of the crow’s nest; “Corona warships inbound; Two frigates, by the looks of it!”

 “Thanks Hawkeye,” Roberts yelled at the kid and then turned to Smoke who was running around the deck, “prepare the mortar and rear cannons!”

             Smoke jumped slightly and grabbed a few men and they went pelting to their respective stations, with Smoke yelling instructions.

             Roberts turned the ship slightly and then turned to Anna, “I think it’s time that _The Junker_ went out with a bang, don’t you, Quartermaster Andrews?”

             Anna smiled and yelled in her deepened voice, “Keep the sails steady! Gunners, ready the cannons and mortar for the lone Schooner!”

 Anna watched as the two warships came toward The Junker, one on either side. Anna smiled humorlessly, as she saw a small rowboat approach their ship with Pike and Smarts waving like crazy, with the little rowboat filled with their few possessions and the remaining gunpowder. The gunpowder now in _The Junker_ ’s hold… the same gunpowder shipment that the Duck and the representatives had spoken of before the spider incident, which was now packed into the little two masted Schooner. She waited until the two warships were almost next to the little ship, yelling for the mortar to be ready. She waited carefully, calculating the delay just as she had practiced with Smoke (on the several occasions she had skipped her princess lessons to hang out with the boys).

 The two ships entered position and she yelled at Smoke to fire. _The Junker_ exploded, shattering the hulls of the two pursuing ships causing them to begin to sink. Their new crew cheered as Anna yelled at them to pull up the rowboat containing Pike, Smarts and the rest of their belongings, and then yelled at them to lower the remaining sails, as their new ship shot off, Corona vanishing into the distance, their flag of chained skeletons and the blood-red snowflake adorned door flying defiantly in the wind.

 

 

 


End file.
